「 ✦ Hex Appeal | Issue 03 」

꒰ ≪ Issue 02 ꒱ ◦🌷

Secrets? Many. Patience? Nonexistent. Hogwarts’ most reluctant Slytherin advice-giver never asked for your letters, but that didn’t stop them from piling up on his desk. With a quill as sharp as his wit, Ominis Gaunt answers your anonymous questions with brutal honesty, biting elegance, and just enough sincerity to make you wonder if he almost cares. In our third issue, Hex Appeal turns the column over to Ominis Gaunt himself. From cursed crushes to Unforgivable spells, he spares no one—including his so-called friends—and proves that sometimes the truth really does hurt. Also inside: ✦ Owl post disasters that will ruin your morning ✦ Quills with more personality than their owners ✦ And the stairwell secrets you were never meant to overhear He swore he wouldn’t do this. We’re still not sure he’ll forgive us.

Bunni Ears

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Bunni Bodysuit

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Preview- Hex Appeal by Kate Johnson

Encanto meets Hocus Pocus in this perfect witchy romcom. An absolute must-read if you love Erin Sterling’s The Ex Hex and Lana Harper’s Payback’s a Witch! It’s just a bunch of hocus pocus… Essie Winterscale lives in a huge and ever-changing house in the village of Good Winter, in deepest, darkest Essex. She lives with various witches of various ages, one of whom is still a bit salty about being…

Hex Appeal is a witchy whimsy that tries to be as heartwarming as it is bone chilling, but doesn't quite manage it. All of the right autumnal notes are there - broomsticks, and spells, and hidden evil, with a cast of quirky characters to boot - however, the plot veers in so many directions that it never simmers down. It never finds the ingredients it needs to make a fully sweet and enchanting paranormal escape.

The story itself is set in a little Essex town called Good Winter. Essie, one of the protagonists, happens to be a dungaree-wearing witch with winter magic at her fingertips who lives in a moody, changeable house that cannot be found by most people. That is, until Josh, the new landlord moves to town and is intent on collecting rent...

Which hasn't been paid for nearly 300 years!

Suddenly, not only is the perception spell on Beldam House acting wonky any time he's around, but soon there's danger afoot that could mean the end of the world. That leads to a team-up and a sweeping romance. Then throw in some time travel, an incarnated monster, a rich and pregnant half-sister, and a hex that causes forgetfulness and there's a lot going on.

I'm disappointed I didn't like this one better. It had all the fancifulness I wanted, all the small town idiosyncrasies and Glenda The Good Witch lightness, but I am sorry to say it failed to engage me in romance or plot.

Thanks to NetGalley, One Chapter, and HarperCollins UK for the ARC.

2/5 stars